NINE TEENAGE PSYCHIATRIC inpatients in a Dublin hospital were evacuated due to an electrical fire, and have not yet been able to make a full return, with some having their care downgraded to over-the-phone support from home. 

Two staff members were hospitalised for smoke inhalation following the fire on Sunday the 6th of April, and were discharged following treatment later that evening. No patients were injured or hospitalised. 

It is the second fire in the adolescent inpatient unit at the St Vincent’s Hospital in Fairview in five years. Staff are now concerned that the infrastructure of the building itself, which is almost 130 years old, is unfit for purpose, though the unit itself has been retrofitted.

The 15-18 year olds who were resident in the unit have severe or complex mental health disorders, such as psychotic mood or anxiety disorders. They are admitted in the case that other “less intensive care settings” have failed or were not deemed appropriate.

The unit has a capacity of 12 beds, and there are only around 70 such public beds available for this age group nationwide – though not all of those are currently commissioned due to staffing shortages. 

A medical source with knowledge of the situation in the unit at St Vincent’s said that moving these children, who have serious conditions, to other hospitals or to their homes for the last month will have been “traumatic”. 

“Having 12 beds decommissioned for a month during a mental health service crisis is unacceptable. Staff no longer believe this unit is fit for purpose, though it is retrofitted and lovely in terms of the area where the patients live, the two floors above are derelict, and it’s clear now that there is an urgent need for a new building, that we can be sure is safe for staff and patients,” the source said. 

They added that the fact that not all of the young people could be accommodated within hospitals highlights the fact that there is a “serious shortage in psychiatric inpatient care facilities for young people”.   

The Acting CEO Eoin Culliton told The Journal that the unit was able to partially reopen on Friday 2 May, “on a phased basis”. 

It’s understood that three inpatients returned, with the other six still receiving care either over-the-phone, or in other hospitals. 

“This was an unexpected and distressing situation for our residents in the Adolescent Unit, their families and staff. 

“We have plans to build a new hospital, as previously announced; the timeline on this development is not finally in place,” Culliton added. 

He said that the damage to the entire unit was not extensive.

The Mental Health Commission, the Health and Safety Authority and the HSE were informed of the fire and the evacuation. 

The Mental Health Commission told The Journal that it cannot comment on matters which may be the subject of ongoing regulatory enforcement as it could prejudice further actions the commission may take. 

St Vincent’s proposed plans in 2023 to build 785 apartments, with the intention being that the sale and rent of these would then fund the building of a brand new mental health facility. 

That plan hasn’t progressed past the planning stage, though the hospital indicated in a recent submission to the council that it intends for the construction of the apartments to begin later this year. 

St Vincent’s is a voluntary hospital, which receives most of its funding from the HSE. 

A voluntary hospital is a non-profit private hospital, which is mostly funded by the state.